Door having mitered joint appearance



L. s. l'AYLOR I 3,543,464

Dec. 1., 1970 DOOR HAVING MITERED JOINT APPEARANCE //Vl E/V7'OR; p S. TAYLOR Filed Mar ch 24, 1966 nited States Patent 3,543,464 Patented Dec. 1, 1970 3,543,464 DOOR HAVING MITERED JOINT APPEARANCE Lloyd S. Taylor, 3116 Maple Drive NE., R0. Box 12444, Atlanta, Ga. 30305 Filed Mar. 24, 1966, Ser. N0. 537,105 Int. Cl. E04c 2/38; E06b 3/72 US. Cl. 52-475 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A door having a mitered joint appearance whereby only one of the members at the intersection of a mitered joint is actually angled and the other is concealed from view. The ends of two spaced sides of the door such as the vertical stiles are concealed by a top which fits over said ends and has angled edges on both sides that give the mitered joint appearance on both sides Without the trouble and expense and difiiculty of actually making a mitered joint which involves cutting two matching edges and causing same to be forced into careful engagement.

Mitered doors, and in fact any other rectangular panel arrangement, are desirable because of the pleasing and neat looking arrangement at the corners. However, it is sometimes difficult to obtain the proper angle and abutment between the mitered edges and this can cause considerable trouble and expense thereby making it economically impossible to use a mitered door or mitered effect in certain types of construction. For example, in the metal door trade and particularly in the metal folding door trade there are considerable problems involved in producing a real mitered door, that is, a panel or door which is actually mitered by cutting along an angle at each corner and matching the edges and attaching same. The present arrangement presents the mitered appearance and all of the desirable characteristics of a mitered corner plus easier assembly but does not require the use of an actual mitered angle between the two intersecting and connected mitered corner pieces.

Generally described, it is contemplated that the present arrangement will be applied to the corner of a rectangular panel or frame such as that found in metal doors. The normally vertical side members of the door referred to as stiles are connected by a top and bottom parallel members forming a rigid rectangular frame and a substantially flat, planar panel is secured inside the frame. In the present arrangement, each of the stiles and the top and bottom members are formed out of hollow, rigid, linear stock such as formed metal tube, and in the present arrangement two vertical stiles are not mitered at any precise angle but are cut off at top and bottom at almost any angle greater than the mitered angle as these ends are concealed. The inside face of the vertical stiles are formed with flanges or lips extending longitudinally and confining the panel in place therebetween and concealing inside each vertical stile the inner edge of the panel. Each flange or lip of each vertical stile is cut inwardly for length thereof and notched. The top and bottom members of the panel are also hollow members which may be linear tube and are cut at an angle to form the mitered effect. Each is open on each end and slightly larger than the end cross-section of each of the vertical stiles to fit thereover. In assembly, the top and bottom members slip over the ends of the vertical stiles at each respective end and the depth of the cut in each vertical stile is such that it receives substantially equally the bottom edge of the respective top and bottom members at the inside corner of the miter. The respective members may be spot welded or otherwise attached in place. More specific details or arrangement will be apparent from reading the specification.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a rectangular frame having mitered corners without actually mitering one of the members at each corner.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rectangular frame having a mitered corner in which one of the corner ends of the frame member fits inside the other and the miter effect is accomplished by the angle of the outside member concealing the end of the inside member therein.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a mitered joint which is easier to manufacture and has more corner strength for less assembly time and trouble.

An additional object of this invention resides in the present mitered effect which allows a selection of appearance from both the front and the back of the panel and a variation in the design as well as a selection of a plain arrangement if desired.

An additional object of this invention resides in the advantage of a strong mitered corner which is produced by fitting one corner member over the other and in the case of a metal door may be welded or otherwise attached in place without the use of special miter clips, brackets or pressure assemblies.

Other and further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the top edge of a rectangular door frame with the top member removed.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the door panel shown in FIG. 1 with the top member in place and with dotted lines illustrating the inside edges.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional taken along lines 33 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the door panel shown in FIG. 2 and with the top member in disassembled relationship for assembly on the two vertical stiles.

While the present description is in connection with a door or door panel and particularly with one made from metal and which may be made from components or parts that are rolled from steel or other metal, and While the particular configuration of the front and back of the door as well as the margins and the frame is shown and set forth, this is by way of illustration only and the present panel may be used as a folding door or as a hinged door, a bi-fold, or a multi-fold or a sliding or accordion door as well as other types not stated.

The complete and assembled door is referred to generally by reference numeral 10 and comprises, as in the case of most doors, a pair of vetrical members 12, 14 sometimes referred to as stiles, a top member 16 assembled rigidly with the sides 12, 14 as will hereinafter appear, and a bottom 18 likewise assembled rigidly with the sides 12, 14. Stiles 12, 14 together with the assembled top 16 and bottom 18 form a rectangular frame. Conventional with doors and other such panels, the frame is closed and completed by means of a center panel 20 which may be a plain sheet of material or may be provided with various forms and decorations. Panel 20 is secured to the rectangular frame and to the respective members 12, 14 and 16, 18 as will hereinafter appear.

As readily seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, each of the members 12, 14, 16 and 18, is a box-like tube in cross-section and each comprising front and rear faces 22, 24 and an outer edge 26. Each front and rear face 22, 24 slants or tapers and extends to a common intersection point substantially in the center of the respective member 12, 14, 16, 18, and terminates in outwardly extending, co-extensive but spaced edges or tabs or flanges 28.

The panel member 20 has bent edges 30 thereon which are fitted inside of the respective members 12, 14 between the opposed faces of the edges 28 and are rigidly assembled thereinto as by spot welding in the case of metal which can be welded or by riveting, brazing, soldering, or otherwise attaching by any well known means which might include some of the epoxy and other adhesives. While this is a particularly neat and attractive and desirable way of assembling the panel 20 in the case of metal doors, it is not the only way and does not affect the present invention which is in no way dependent upon this particular feature per so.

In the embodiment shown, the flanges 28 are rolled into a decorative bead 34 co-extensive with the length thereof except that at the ends of the vertical stiles of the present embodiment the bead 34 has been cut away and notched at position 36 for a purpose to be described in connection with the assembly of the miter arrangement. The notching is done both at the top and the bottom of both the vertical stiles 12, 14 and as will appear hereinafter for a distance which is approximately the same as the distance L shown in FIG. 3 the approximate amount from the face 26 to the bottom of the bead 34 on the top and bottom members 16, 18 respectively. This is primarily done for neatness and attractiveness.

Consistent with the present invention, one of the ends of a respective member at a mitered corner will be provided with the usual mitered angle accomplished by cutting through that end member at the proper miter angle desired. However, according to the present invention it is unnecessary to miter or cut the other end of the corner at the same angle as is usual in completing a mitered joint since instead of two co-extensive abutting mitered edges there is only one mitered edge which fits over the top of the other member. Referring to the drawings, in the present embodiment, it being understood that the situation could be reversed and instead of being on the top the miter could be on the vertical stiles, top member 16 as well as bottom member 18 have been cut at miter ends 40 at an angle selected for that particular panel. Of course, as in the case of any rectangular panel or door panel, it is necessary to cut the length of the members 12, 14 for the overall length desired of the door as well as cutting panel 20 to fit therebetween, and likewise it is necessary to cut the top member 16 and the bottom member 18 to the length desired along the faces 26 thereof to correspond with the width already selected for the vertical stile 12, 14.

This having been done, the miter angle is applied to the ends 40. While previously it has been mentioned that members 12, 14 and members 16, 18 are rolled steel tubes or other members substantially identical, there is an exception in that members 16, 18 in the present embodiment are opened up tranversely at the ends 40 to fit over the ends of the respective stiles 12, 14 at the respective top and bottom thereof. Thus, when members 16, 18 are fitted over the ends of respective members 12, 14 and pushed thereon until the edges of the face 26 match with the edges of the tops of members 12, 14 and until the bead 34 on members 16, 18 is pushed down to the notch 36, and then rigidly assembled thereat, a complete assembled and rigid panel is created which has a mitered eflect showing only the miter angle line 40 in the assembled door shown in FIG. 2. As compared with some forms of assembly of a miter joint, this is a stronger joint since the attachment of the members 16, 18 to the respective ends of members 12, 14 may be by spot welding or other means of attachment rather than conventional miter attachment such as pressure brackets, fasteners and other devices that are necessary to pull the mitered edges into place. The members 16, 18 are actually backed up inside in each end by the ends of the respective members 12, 14 extending up thereinto thereby lending additional strength at the corner as compared to some miter joints. While it has been found entirely satisfactory to cut the ends of the inside members which are in the present embodiment 12, 14, square at the top forming a angle, it should appear that any cut may be made since these ends are concealed inside of the top and bottom pieces 16, 18, in the present embodiment, as long as the angle is not less than the angle of the miter, that is, as long as angle A in FIG. 4 to the dotted line representing the ultimate position of miter 40 does not become less than angle B which is the angle of the miter in which case a gap or mismatch would show. It has been found desirable to cut the ends of members 12, 14 off straight so as to extend almost the full length inside of members 16, 1 8 as shown in the present drawings.

For sake of proper fitting and attractiveness, the head 36 has been cut back as described previously so that the bead 34 on the top and bottom members 16, 18 will slip down into the notch 36 on flanges 28 and exactly or almost exactly match therewith. This gives the finished appearance shown in FIG. 2. However, it should be clearly understood that all doors will not have beads or rolled edges 34 as shown in the present drawings and it is possible to finish off the members without flanges 28 or beads 34 in which case no cutback or notches will be necessary and it may be sufficient for that particular price of door and the like simply to let the bottom edge where 34 would have been, slip into place over the corresponding edge on the other members 12, 14.

Although panel member 20 is shown cut off flush or even with the ends of the members 12, 14 it is possible to reduce the length of panel 20' and cut it off at any position but it should be done at least slightly above the notched portion 36 or wherever the bottom edge of the members 16, 18 extend to the mitered section in order to hide the end of panel 20 so that no open spaces show.

It should also be understood that while in connection with the present explanation the miter has been applied to the normally horizontal members 16, 18 and these two members are the outside members placed over the respective ends of the respective members 12, 14, it is also pos sible to apply the miter to the vertical members 12, 14 and fit these to the outside of the respective horizontal members 16, 18 at the respective ends thereof and furthermore, for the sake of a reference basis, the members were referred to as vertical and horizontal and appear longer in one direction than the other, this is a relative matter as the panel may be turned to place the members in reverse order and the top and bottom members may be longer than the side members or vice versa. Also, the panel may be in other shapes such as square and it is even possible that the miter may be placed in one corner but not in others as desired. Various decorations and forms and shapes may be applied to members 12, 14, 16 and 18, and to the edges and surfaces thereof as well as panel 20 and to the edges and surfaces thereof.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention together with suggested methods of assembly and types of materials, and I have discussed other forms various alterations, changes, deviations, eliminations, substitutions, revisions, omissions, additions and changes may be made in the embodiment shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. In' a closure such as a rigid, rectangular door frame having each corner presenting a mitered effect on both sides:

(a) a rigid, rectangular, self-supporting, structural frame comprising vertical side members in opposed relationship, a top member, and a bottom member, and each of said top, bottom and vertical members having opposed faces separated by an edge with space therebetween, said frame being movably attachable in an opening to function as a closure therein, such as a folding closet door,

(b) a panel member closing the inside of said rectangular space defined by said sides, top and bottom members and being rigidly secured thereto,

(c) each of the corners of said rectangular frame having a mitered effect on both sides of said structural frame created by having the ends on both sides of one of said vertical members and said top and bottom members fitted over and covering a portion of the ends on both sides of the respective said other members having the ends thereof inserted therein,

(d) the members having the ends fitting on the outside being cut at an angle on both sides to create a mitered angle effect, and all of said corners being fitted together and said members being rigidly attached to form a rigid, rectangular frame.

2. The rectangular frame claimed in claim 1, wherein:

(e) said top and bottom members are cut at an angle on each end thereof to form the mitered effect, and said top and bottom members fit over the respective upper ends of said vertical side members and at least part of said upper and lower ends of said vertical side members fit inside of and into the respective ends of said top and bottom members.

3. The rectangular frame claimed in claim 1, wherein: (e) the inside of each of the edges of each member has a portion extending coextensively therealong, (f) said portions on said inside members being reduced from the ends a distance therealong corresponding with the approximate width of the outside members fitted thereover, and each of said edges being notched to receive the bottom corner of said outside mitered ends.

4. The form claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the two ends of each of the two members having the ends inside are cut substantially perpendicular to the said respective member and extend substantially to the full depth of the respective ends of said outside members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1913 Anderson 52656 5/1965 South 52656 FOREIGN PATENTS 366,957 3/1963 Switzerland.

25 PRICE C. FAW, JIL, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

